Missouri governor backs plans for new oil pipeline

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Gov. Jay Nixon is endorsing plans for new oil pipeline that would cut across Missouri.

Nixon said Tuesday that his administration would work to approve whatever permits are necessary for Enbridge (U.S.) Inc. to build a 600-mile pipeline from Flanagan, Ill., to Cushing, Okla. The company is in the early stages of the project but hopes to begin construction in the middle of next year.

The support from Missouri’s Democratic governor comes just a couple of weeks after Democratic President Barack Obama rejected plans for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline from Canada to Texas.

Concerns have been raised about the Keystone project because it would cut through an environmentally sensitive area of Nebraska that supplies water to eight states. The Enbridge project would follow the route of an existing pipeline.